Mei Ling's Return
by FictionerMcGee
Summary: Mei Ling, the rogue, and Master Shifu have broken up for quite some time now. No matter how many mad rants of "inner-peace" or "alcohol-induced-seduction-sprees" they have, neither have truly gotten over it. Difference is, one of them has a plan to change that. This story shows the awkward, yet fitting events that had occurred between the two lovers prior to KFP:LOA: "Shifu's Ex".
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there again! This is just an idea that I refused to let just gather dust in the back of my head. Haven't seen much of Mei Ling the rogue in KFP fanfics, so I thought that I'd incorporate her in one of mine. I'll see you all at the bottom of this page. Anyways enjoy! :D**

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Mei Ling's Return

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*Several years before Tai-Lung was adopted by Shifu*

(Outskirts of the Valley of Peace)

When she spotted him for the first time practicing Tai-Chi on a narrow cliff at midnight, she thought, _"My, my. This will easier than I thought. Who would even practice such a useless art so late anyways..."_ Little did she know that the red panda she had so carelessly misjudged as a rich merchant who was simply hiding underneath a peasant's robe was indeed Master Shifu, Grandmaster Oogway's prodigy and member of the current Furious Five. This meant that himself and masters Snow Leopard, Rooster, Elephant, and Owl (commonly known as Fenghuang), were committed to dedicating their lives in order to protect the Valley of Peace from the toughest bandits to the usual miscreants, like Mei Ling.

Finders, keepers. That was her way of life. What she grew up around. How she kept herself going. Mei Ling abandoned her parents long ago, thinking such ties were only going to burden her in the future as she continued down the path of greed and selfishness. She kept her feelings bottled up and mostly detached from others to avoid becoming notorious within city limits, although when seduction became an easy option to mislead males into handing her their priceless jewelry, she would still pounce on the opportunity nevertheless. However, it all changed when the fox met Shifu.

The fox herself, sporting a light pink robe with white trimming along with a matching pink sash, was hiding in the dense foliage of an adjacent cliff near Shifu's, waiting patiently for the right time to strike. The moment arrived soon enough, and Mei Ling proceeded to launch herself out of the bushes and knock out the supposedly entitled merchant with a single blow to a pressure point on the side of his neck. It would have been a successful attempt, but the red panda with his acute hearing and superior reflexes had easily dodged her outstretched fingers and flipped her on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs.

Mel Ling didn't give up, and rolled away from him as much as she dared without falling off the narrow cliff. Her eyes then widened as she realized just who she had decided to rob and mentally reprimanded herself. _"Of course my target just HAS to be the most annoying possible target of all... Shifu... You really do surprise me. Why wear such an ugly robe when you can clearly buy something more presentable? I mean, you do live in a palace that is made entirely out of jade, quite the expensive mineral if I may add. Nevertheless, I'm not afraid of getting a little bounty placed on my head just because I assaulted some 'Kung Fu Master'."_

The rogue then delivered a complex series of punches and kicks towards the red panda, some of it clearly hitting its mark, before he retaliated. Shifu caught both of Mei Ling's wrists, then released them too quickly for her to react and landed a strong jab at her stomach before back flipping gracefully to the edge of the cliff.

Mei Ling spat out some blood out of the corner of her mouth from the severity and precision of Shifu's attacks but was not hindered in any way. _"He's really as good as word on the street, but then again, he's an animal, just like all of us. He has to have at least some mistakes that I can expose later on."_ the fox thought with a cold determination on her face. She recovered enough energy to deliver a strong punch to the side of Shifu's face only to reel backward in pain while grasping her cheek along with the red panda. It turns out, he was thinking the same thing as her, and they simultaneously socked each other in the cheekbone, thankfully not shattering or fracturing and bones.

How Mei Ling had achieved her Kung Fu skills was unknown and probably questionable, but she still possessed an uncanny skill for it without a doubt. In fact, her aptitude for it was enough to rival a well trained, Kung Fu master like Shifu to a certain extent. The two locked eyes together, and the red panda spoke for the first time that night.

"M'lady, listen. I don't know why you'd even try something as foolish as this, but you now have two choices. You can either come quietly with me to the prison located near this village, or I can drag your unconscious body there. Honestly, I don't take any form of pleasure in fighting women, but I can and will do what I must. I'm sure you understand, hence your attack on me when my guard was lowered."

The vulpine's eyebrows raised slightly at his choice of words. M'lady? Seriously? _"What a gentleman,"_ thought Mei Ling sarcastically, _"yet he is still willing to punch such an impressionable girl like me. Hmph. The nerve of that hypocrite."_ Her thoughts were interrupted as she just barely dodged a roundhouse kick aimed at her face and refocused her thoughts on the combat situation in front of her.

"It seems you want to do this the hard way. Unfortunately, it seems I have no choice now. Ma'am, I'd like to say that I DID in fact inform you of your two options, so take it up with the constable if you don't like what's going to happen next, not me."

Shifu had a hint of a smug smile as if he had waited for forever to use that cheesy line, which he probably had in fact done just that. The fox could only sigh in exasperation while face-palming herself.

Mei Ling then suddenly lowered her fighting stance, held out both her arms to him, and said quite defeatedly, "Fine. You win. I'll submit to you. Take me to jail. Just please go easy when tying my wrists together; I can get marked quite easily..."

Shifu, blinking in confusion at first, cautiously accepted the fox's surrender, and calmly walked towards the now flat-eared fox with a length of rope produced from his robe. _"Better to be over-prepared, than underprepared... I'll have to thank you later for your wisdom, Grandmaster Oogway. For now though..."_

He had slipped the rope around and between Mei Ling's outstretched wrists, watching her face for any signs of struggling or deceit. The vulpine calmly stared back, her face revealing nothing, but a neutral demeanor and reluctant acceptance. Shifu was just about to finish tying the last knot to secure her properly, only to be headbutted quite painfully in the space between his eyes.

Mei Ling smirked mischievously when she noticed the red panda fighting back the tears that were slowly accumulating underneath his eyelids. She knew that would have hurt more than she had planned to. _"Hah, how gullible can men be? To think he actually thought that I would just quietly let him tie me up so he could haul me to jail. His naivete knows no bounds, does it?"_ thought the satisfied vulpine while quickly biting through the ropes binding her wrists.

Once she was free, she did not hesitate to lunge towards the temporarily incapacitated master with a strong uppercut followed by a swift leg sweep. She was about to land the finishing blow on his chest while he was down, but of course, Shifu rolled away just in time before she struck.

" _She clearly has a natural talent at this,"_ mused Shifu, _"but it all ends now. A shame. Perhaps she might have even become a student under the Jade Palace had she not taken to petty thievery."_ While Mei Ling was clutching her paw painfully after striking the ground below her, narrowly missing the master yet again, she didn't have enough time to complain over the slightly bleeding knuckles she now possessed as the red panda quickly kneed her in the face, effectively disorientating her. When she finally was able to focus, she came to with an image of Master Shifu on top of her,straddling her and pinning her to the ground. With how isolated the cliff was and the setting of her environment, this would have almost been romantic had it not been so infuriating.

Mei Ling had effectively been brought down. No matter how hard she squirmed and struggled, Shifu had an iron grip on her. Knowing fighting was useless, the vulpine went limp. Shifu however, did not fall for her tactics this time and only added more pressure on her wrists that he was currently restraining. The rogue paid no attention to it, with much difficulty, and decided to play her ace. Her being a thief, she didn't have the time to buy a lot of makeup to lift her appearances. She would always be too busy spending most of her free time running away from the angered guards whom she had chosen as easy marks to pickpocket.

She knew she was attractive, though. Actually, scratch that. She was VERY attractive. The men who would walk up to her and forcibly try to mate with her at first sight proved as much. Obviously, the males that made a move on her were never successful. They either had myriad bruises around their sacred area and couldn't walk for a week, a slit throat, or were currently resting at the bottom of a river, slowly decomposing to get rid of the evidence. The fox inhaled inaudibly, mentally psyching herself up for probably being the first woman ever to seduce a Kung Fu master.

She opened her amber eyes to see a pair of steel blue ones, staring firmly back, watching for any signs of resistance. She smirked up at the red panda above her and harbored a suggestive smile, harboring a sparkle in her eyes when she tilted her head a certain way.

"My, my... The great Master Shifu of the Furious Five has just pinned downed a lady like me, and we're all alone... free from prying eyes on top of this cliff. Do you have anything else in mind after tying me up and rendering me totally helpless?"

At this, Shifu blushed profusely. In truth, he had thought that she was quite the beautiful vulpine, but didn't let that knowledge get in the way of their confrontation. It wasn't until where he was now that he could actually appreciate her features. Realizing his ignominious ogling, the red panda scolded himself in his mind and forced his mind to return back to its previous state. Shifu's concentration faltered once more as he reflected on just what exactly the rogue was implying.

Mei Ling was enjoying this spectacle. Though Master Shifu currently had the upper hand, the look in his eyes gave away his inner turmoil. Ironically, she had him right where she wanted him. Now, all that's left is just one, tiny nudge in the right direction...

"I know who you are, Master Shifu. I myself am quite a shrewd negotiator. As you can clearly tell, I'm in quite the predicament. I really do not want to go to jail, and am willing to do ANYTHING to avoid it, so I was hoping I could 'persuade' you to ignore this one infraction. Well? What say you to that? Quite the... arousing idea, don't you think?"

While she spoke, Mei Ling had winked when she said "persuade", and batted her eyelids flirtatiously at him. If the master wasn't completely flustered already, he definitely was now. It was quite the comical sight. His left ear was flapping back and forth rapidly, and his right eye was twitching as if there was a mosquito buzzing around it. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was incoherent and probably indignant stuttering.

The seductress of a vulpine giggled in an adorable fashion at his reaction, but that moment was short-lived as she had turned the tables on him, so to speak. While Shifu was still trying to regain what was left of his composure, Mei Ling had taken the initiative and flipped him over, effectively reversing their positions.

Master Shifu was stunned. No one had ever gotten the better of him like that. Not even the famed "Ladies of the Shade" who had at the time claimed superiority in the field of enticing men with their flawless skills and a flattering articulation.

Shifu tried to be angry, to yell at her to get off, but all that came out was a goofy grin as the fox looked down at him with a victorious smirk. It quickly changed to one of seriousness and assertiveness.

"I have won, AND as fair as a rogue could possibly ever win, so in regards to your title and reputation of Master...I'll let you go. But, since I've proven myself, I hold you to your obligations and I'll be able to walk away from all this scot-free, you hear me?" The red panda only nodded numbly in response, not even uttering a single word as she released him and prepared to jump downwards off the cliff.

Before she could though, the fox heard one thing come out from the stuttering master's lips.

"W-Wait!"

Mei Ling paused but didn't turn around. She only had her ears perked up, signifying that she was listening.

Shifu exhaled a little tiredly. "What... is your name, if I may ask?"

The vulpine did not answer his question right away. Should she give out her identity? Or should she just walk off? She had never encountered a situation where she would need to reveal her name, therefore she took the time to think before answering. Letting her opposition know her name was clearly not a smart move, but a tug on her gut convinced her otherwise.

"It's... Mei Ling. And don't get your hopes up. It'd be best if you forgot it, as the only time you will probably ever see me here again is because I'm in desperate need of help, which I do not want and certainly never will. Nor do I wish to see you again, as I'll likely get arrested the next time we meet. Enjoy the rest of your night... Master Shifu."

The rogue finally turned around to give the red panda a mocking bow, before leaping gracefully off the cliff and into the mist below, where a road was concealed by the dense fog. She walked down the path, looking far into the clustered trees, awaiting a surprise attack. If it was a bad day, maybe an arrow or two would be sent flying towards her right in the center of her forehead. Fortunately, none came, leaving Mei Ling to recede into her own private thoughts.

She sighed, frustrated that the heaviness in her heart had refused to cede. What was going on with her? She had never felt this sense of longing after enticing someone. The fox had also pondered why seducing him seemed easy for her, and not subtly forced as usual. She walked on faster, hoping that getting away farther from the red panda would ease her anxiety. Perhaps she was still in the heat of the moment. Maybe her adrenaline rush was still traveling throughout her body, causing her to feel this way.

The fox walked on with a steady, determined face. Not exactly threatening to others, but not enough to cause the occasional traveler to raise an arm in benediction and open up a light conversation with her.

After many miles of walking she eventually got to a clearing that contained a river bank, with the water continuously flowing downstream at a steady rate. The nighttime moonlight had eventually started to succumb to the slowly approaching dominant rays of the sun, thus creating quite the enchanting view. The river bank was not on the road, so it was avoided for the most part, and it was in the middle of the bamboo forest Mei Ling passed not too long ago. Inconspicuously lying further down the riverside was a spacious cave in which had a mossy overhang, concealing its entrance from prying eyes. The vulpine walked towards it, gratefully sighing in relief before pushing the plant-life aside and entering.

This was her "home" if you will. Though she was always on the move in case the city guards were notified of her presence in the area, she was always able to lose them and come back to this seemingly unimportant cave that had and still is currently acting as her safe house. Its irrelevant nature was what inspired Mei Ling to move inside of it in the first place. When she first arrived, it had been out of desperation to avoid a harsh winter blizzard, but she had soon renovated it into something more comfortable to live in after realizing its tactical advantage.

Her home consisted of a kitchen table, with a stool that should probably be replaced soon as it was now a dilapidated safety hazard, and a fire that had been long put out sitting idly in the center of the room. At one side of the cave lay a relatively clean bed mat with a few medical supplies lying next to it in all of their respective containers. Mei Ling felt her way through the darkness and started the fire once again. The shadows that the crackling fire illuminated only added to the serenity and the sense of welcome emitting from the interior of the cave.

Exhausted from the fight, the rogue walked over to her bed mat, treated her wounds, and closed her eyes awaiting the comfort of sleep. Just then, her stomach rumbled quite obnoxiously. The vulpine opened her eyes slowly, then closed them once again, trying to avoid her hunger pangs. Of course, she had forgotten to do her weekly routine of snatching food out of unsuspecting people's baskets in order to sustain herself. Oh well, she'd deal with that later. She was too tired to care. As the sun started rising up, signaling the presence of morning, Mei Ling put out the fire and went back to her attempts at getting some rest.

Being nocturnal took a while for the fox to adjust to, but her capabilities at stealth and likewise were exponentially enhanced when there were fewer witnesses to watch her pick a pocket. These days, the rogue was a natural at her reversed schedule: Wake up at the crack of dusk, do the things that made her, HER, and casually retreat back to her home. Hopefully with quite the usual rich spoils, which she would quickly get bored of and toss them aside after a week.

As Mei Ling slowly drifted off into slumber, she had pleasant thoughts of Master Shifu...Wait a minute, Shifu? The vulpine shook her head trying to erase his memory from her mind with a great amount of denial and disgust, while physically clenching her fists tightly.

 _"Knowing you, you'll eventually turn me into the guards. That's how the world works. 'Good guys prosper', while the rest are just there to pick up the scraps...It's only inevitable. I guess I'll have to deal with YOU as well as my hunger later on...For now though, consider yourself lucky you're not my first priority...Shifu..."_

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 **Author's Note: Well, what do ya think? Questions? Comments? Snide remarks? Flames? I got inspiration for this chapter by watching KFP LOA: "Shifu's Ex" again. BTW, I also decided to include the 'fight scene flashback' from that episode into this chapter, and am quite happy with the way it turned out. Anyways, I'll release the second chapter whenever I have the time to, so I'll see you all later :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! I forgot to say it in my first chapter, so I'll just say it now before anyone gets any ideas XD: I don't own Kung Fu Panda or anything related to it. All characters (except OCs, but there will probably only be a few) in this story are owned by Dreamworks Animation. Not me. Good. Now that the headache had been dealt with, on with the show! :D**

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It was the next night after. The villagers in the Valley of Peace and practically everybody else in China were hurriedly heading home, trying to beat the moon as it slowly arose from the ground, replacing where the sun would be. Mothers were ordering their reluctant children to go to bed, shop keepers were closing down for the night, and various candles that were emitting from the inside of homes were quickly blown away to embrace the approaching darkness. Most of everyone already had their eyes closed, awaiting the comfort of sleep to embrace them.

That is, all except Mei Ling, who had just woken up and was now getting up off her bed mat.

The vulpine questioned why she did not start her reversed sleep schedule a little earlier. It was far more expedient to be awake at nighttime than during the day in her opinion. For one, there were far fewer witnesses to watch her in case she accidentally got caught (which was a rarity) during one of her lifts. Another reason would be the fact that there was a consistent transition in all guard shifts from dusk to night. If Mei Ling chose to utilize this to her advantage, she would have a decently sized fortune stolen from any city's treasury and be gone before the guards would even notice the missing items.

Of course, the major setback was carrying the spoils all the way back to her safe house, meaning the rogue had to limit how much things she could steal before bailing out of the city/village. Mei Ling had gotten used to only receiving a very small portion of her efforts in the form of yuan (Chinese currency), but it still bugged her to know that she could have been as rich as the emperor by now if only she was working with a partner. A partner... Obviously, being a rogue is not exactly a popular job opportunity, so that possibility was useless. Nowadays, the vulpine had to deal with her own personal problems such as her occasional food shortage.

*rumble*

The fox glared at her stomach and frowned at it. Right...food. She had forgotten to go into a village to restock on that necessity after her conflict with Shifu. There it was again. That name. No, scratch that. That ANNOYING name. Mei Ling once again shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had never been as distracted as she was now for the aftermath of seducing other males. In fact, she never even bothered to give them a second thought after she had gotten what she wanted from them. So why did she have this tingling sensation whenever she thought back to the moment when Shifu had her pinned down on top of the cliff?

 _"Ughhh... This is way too complicated... Why can't you just get outta my head you stupid, annoying red panda?!"_ thought the vulpine with clear agitation ringing in her head.

Mei Ling stretched leisurely, popping a couple bones, trying to recompose herself. She brewed some tea over the fire which she had barely started and only took a single sip from her teacup before throwing it aside due to force of habit, causing the fragile ceramic to shatter into pieces. She couldn't care less. The rogue would probably snag a fancier one later anyways.

She proceeded to head out of her cave and into the welcoming night beyond. The fox headed over to the riverbank that was located in front of her home and decided to follow its steady path downstream. She was aware that a village was further down the river-turned-makeshift-road, and that within the settlement was a popular farmer's market. Perfect for what the rogue needed to resupply on for the rest of the week.

The fox could have chosen to travel upwards from the river and into the Valley Of Peace for food, but she refused to do so for obvious reasons. A pang of regret traveled throughout her body as the Valley of Peace was closer to her home than her current destination, but Mei Ling dismissed it as her hunger.

 _"No doubt Shifu has placed a decently sized bounty on me by now; if I go there, I'll be an instant red-alert target for the guards, and I've already encountered one too many close-calls there. Best I lay low for now, and besides, I haven't been to the other nearby village in a while. What its name is, I forgot and honestly, I don't really care about it. The enforcement there has probably forgotten all about me and my 'misadventures'...hopefully."_

As the rogue traveled down the path, the only sounds that could be heard were the rushing of water, the endless chirping of crickets, and the pitter-patter of her own footsteps as she trod upon the grass and loose pebbles with practiced agility. Her paws were behind her back as she respectfully kept away from the nighttime traveling merchants and their carts that she would sometimes come across.

 _"I should try not to create any undue notoriety before I even set foot there... Even though 'What's-its-name' Village is still several miles away from here, I can't risk another unplanned incident."_

The rogue kept walking with a steely, flint expression, often shying away "travelers" such as herself, as she was completely different from the usual meaning of the word. They never had the same motives as her. When they would come to visit, the vulpine would come steal. Such is the way of life that was in her perspective. The rich would only get richer, while the poor were left to make do with what they had. Often times, some unfortunate people wouldn't even have anything to use as a reference point, such as Mei Ling, herself. The thief had to start at literally the very bottom, but she eventually pulled through her tough past.

She was born as an only child, while her mother was a prostitute and her father was a drunken mess that was constantly on the lookout for jobs that in the end, paid less than the promised wages. Her house was shameful as it was passed on from generation to generation and from one family to the next, with barely any care in between. Growing up, the fox didn't have many opportunities to have a better life as school was considered a luxury and the rare friends she had were ripped away from her when their parents found out of her troubled family relationship. They all thought she was only bad news. So be it.

When she was a teenager, that's when everything started to fall apart. Well, things started to fall apart even MORE than what she was accustomed to.

Her father had started heavily smoking along with drinking, and her mother was constantly showing up at their house later and later. Often times, she was too drunk to be able to communicate where she had been, but Mei Ling always knew. The disgusting smell of arousal and sex had always lingered on her, and Mei Ling's father was either too incapacitated to care, or just simply never did in the first place. The heated arguments between her mother and father showed up more and more once Mei Ling had started to "take things upon herself". Things like stealing and just barely touching the edges of debauchery.

She still remembered the horrible event that caused her to abandon her parents forever when she had come home from her usual routine of hustling gullible strangers and pickpocketing nobles.

 _*Flashback*_

 _A younger Mei Ling was walking through the crowded pedestrians and clustered streets of Gongmen City. This was her birthplace. Where she had grown up and is still planning to stay there for a while. The fox was fifteen years old and had already been arrested once by the guards there for getting caught shoplifting. Most animals were skittish around her, as she would never be the type to let pointless conversations get in the way of her day. Whenever she would walk past the civilians in the richer districts of Gongmen, people would feel their pockets to make sure that the pouches of coins were still safely tucked in and not suddenly gone._

 _In fact, the reputation that Mei Ling upheld was enough to make the occasional patrolling guard stop her right where she was and searched her for any signs of stolen goods or even contraband items if they were lucky. Of course, if they attempted to arrest her, she would always either flee the area with her natural swiftness or render the guards that were unfortunate enough to get in her way unconsciousness._

 _The situation revolving around her and Gongmen had eventually become so dire that even the enforcement there would simply walk the other direction or just pretend that they didn't see the thieving fox at all when they came across her. Both worked in her favor, regardless of what they chose. At that point, Mei Ling had gotten cocky. Some would also dare say that it could even compete against Master Croc, who was known to have an irritatingly high sense of self-esteem. She would openly snatch an unsuspecting target's coin purse and bolt away, with the guards and civilians around the victim to only give sympathetic glances and expressions of pity._

 _Those were the times when Mei Ling was the happiest. When she didn't have a care in the world about anyone or anything and had nothing to stress about. Her parents would always provide for her, no matter what condition they were in (surprisingly enough), and the city was too scared to do anything about her audacity. The commander of the guards couldn't place a bounty on her as she was considered inept to be a 'killable criminal' at the time and the peacocks ruling over Gongmen (Shen's parents) were too busy with political affairs to even pay attention to the bruise that was slowly eating away at the city like a parasite._

 _Local wolf bandits had tried to rob her as well, pegging her as an easy mark, but it would always end up with them pleading for their lives as Mei Ling held a razor dagger or something similar against their jugular. One time, she even managed to subdue one of them with a pair of chopsticks that were conveniently within reach. Of course, she would always release them as she had never killed anyone before (no matter what her reputation claimed about her)._

 _The bandits would also have nothing but the clothes on their backs as the fox forced them to hand over their stolen goods to her. She also provided them with a warning that if they tried to pull something like that on her again, they would still be alive, but with fewer genitals than before. It was actually quite the fair deal if you thought about it long enough._

 _It was all going well for Mei Ling. Right now she was in a clearing, laying atop a branch on an isolated tree lazily with her tail swishing slowly while watching the sunset in the distance. The peach she held in her paw was obviously snatched with minimal resistance, but she threw it aside as she wasn't really hungry. She stayed like that for a while, consumed in her thoughts until an approaching figure interrupted her from her trance-like state._

 _It was another wolf, but this time it had unusually red eyes, with a brutal looking war maul slung casually over his shoulder. It wore dark plated armor over his vulnerable areas, with enough space for him to still move unrestricted._

 _It was Wolf Boss. The only difference between him and the one currently was the fact that he was obviously much younger and still had yet to receive the scar in his eye from Po's father, Li-Shan. The fox took notice of his rather aggressive-looking demeanor and simply closed her eyes once more, hoping that the wolf would go away and leave her be. Of course, her wishes were not granted, as usual. Wolf Boss shot a single glare at the seemingly uncaring vulpine and said with practiced authority,_

 _"Hey! Lady! Are you the one that's been causing all the problems for Prince Shen and my pack of wolves?!"_

 _Silence. Time passed. More silence was the only accompanist to the original one. Mei Ling had only twitched her ears slightly, as if a gnat had to annoyed her. Even more silence passed between the two figures. One was trying to catch up on sleep, while the other had his tail fluffed out in indignation._

 _Wolf Boss looked at her with clear disbelief in his gaze. He quickly became angry at her passiveness and pulled out his maul, issuing out a war cry before smashing it into the tree, causing it to topple over. Mei Ling merely sighed in exasperation as this happened and landed gracefully in front the wolf just before the tree had fallen to a complete stop, creating a loud thud._

 _The vulpine had an irritated look in her face as she locked eyes with her harasser for the first time._

 _"That was my favorite spot to relax you jerk!"_

 _"Yeah? Well maybe you should tone down your impudence when I'm talking to you woman!"_

 _"First I'm a lady, and now I'm a woman? You should really get your eyes checked; I think you'd look far more intimidating with a pair of glasses on you."_

 _"ARGH! That is IT! You've done it now fox! I'll just skip the pleasantries of asking you questions while pretending that I have no idea what you've done, and just beat the living daylights out of you!"_

 _"Whatever. Chivalry is a dead practice anyway."_

 _Mei Ling got into a basic Kung Fu stance, waiting for the enraged wolf to attack. He did not disappoint. Wolf Boss sprinted quickly at the petite fox and proceeded to smash her thirty feet into the ground, only to have her catch the maul with surprising strength, pry the weapon from his paws, and bludgeon him repeatedly on both sides of his face before backwards somersaulting away from him, stopping with one foot on the fallen tree's trunk._

 _Wolf Boss spat out a tooth and growled angrily before picking up the now-bloodied maul while getting back slowly on his two feet. He seemed mildly embarrassed at the fact that he was so easily outmaneuvered by someone that was barely half his height. Naturally, anybody would have. Mei Ling, having noticed his offended state, decided to add salt to the wound. Figuratively of course, though if the moment became opportune, she would not have hesitated to do so if she happened to have had a salt shaker in one of her pockets. A shame she didn't at the time._

 _Instead, the fox did the next best thing. She shot him a look of pure innocence and confusion. It was her signature look. It was one that often caused the blood of one's that was unfortunate enough to be its receiver to boil in anger and pure appall. It was a look that represented the streak of rebelliousness and arrogance that all teenagers had possessed at least once in their stage of change. As Mei Ling was still "exploring herself", if you will, she was a master at this glance. She had practically screamed out loud with all the naivete and sarcasm that only a teen could muster, "Oh my gosh! Did I just do that? What would I know, I'm just a teenager going through the rough stages of puberty..."_

 _Wolf Boss was indeed, extremely angered. It was all the better for the agile fox. Most warriors fought more recklessly when blinded by emotions. The wolf was no exception. He then ran straight at her once again, but this time had his eyes narrowed in frustration. Mei Ling decided to humor the poor bandit and chose not to repeat what she had done the last time when he swung his maul downwards. Instead, she gracefully dodged the fatal blow to her head just before it hit its mark._

 _"Ooooh; so close. But yet...so far." taunted the vulpine, further infuriating the wolf bandit._

 _At this point, he had had enough. Wolf Boss was literally being beaten by a pint-sized girl with an attitude problem. He wouldn't have any of it. The wolf threw his war maul to the side, and a low clunk could be heard as the weight of the weapon made contact with the earth. Mei Ling's feet vibrated in an unappreciative manner at this. Wolf Boss then drew out a pair of twin daggers. He had rarely used these, as his usual weapon of choice would usually beat his opposer into a bloody pulp, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and this was no exception._

 _Both the daggers looked quite menacing in the eyes of the vulpine, and she gulped audibly. Both of the daggers were ten inches in length and an inch and a half in width. They were double edged, but what had made Mei Ling nervous was its uncommon choice of material. The blade itself was pure ebony, meaning it was very difficult to break into pieces. That meant that the fox couldn't use her primary strategy against normal daggers when dealing with these two nuisances. Not only that, but both sides of the blade were expertly rough and jagged in shape and proportion; there was no doubt that they were created by a master blacksmith. An unnatural combination, but it still caused the vulpine to stop and evaluate her decisions more thoroughly._

 _Wolf Boss's eyes glinted manically and a wide smile made its way to his muzzle when he noticed Mei Ling's hesitance. It was quite the menacing sight as he bared his canines in glee. He rarely had the chance to wield the pair of monstrosities he held in each of his paws as he often concluded a fight long before it even began, but the fox standing in front of him was a special case. She obviously knew Kung Fu, and it was even more clear that she didn't learn it from the Kung Fu council that was slowly gaining power within the city, due to her more "free" tactics._

 _He had to resolve this issue before it became a problem he couldn't handle, hence him drawing out his daggers._

 _"You like what you see? Few have ever had the chance to meet 'Scorching Tooth' and 'Blistering Claw' up close and personal. By the way, if one of these manages to catch you on any part of your body, you're in for a world full of pain. Now that I've taken the time to give you a warning in sportsmanship, I suggest that you don't scream at the top of your lungs when I impale you in the shoulder blade. You see, all those screams of agony and anguish are great and all, but it gives me one heck of a migraine afterwards..."_

 _A bead of sweat dropped from Mei Ling's forehead and rolled down her chin before making its inevitable descent towards the ground. The psychotic wolf grinned even wider at this, and the vulpine mentally cursed herself for revealing her inner anxiety to her opponent. Wolf Boss then resumed speaking once more, relishing in the control he now had over the troublesome fox's nerves._

 _"Migraines, as I'm sure we can both relate to this, are extremely annoying. When I'm truly annoyed, I do things that I always regret later on. I mean seriously, do you have any idea how long it takes for me to get the blood out of my fur and the severed limbs away from the crime scene and out of sight? It's tedious, to say the least. That's all I'm going to say about that... Now. Where were we on this again?"_

 _Mei Ling was able to maintain her composure, surprisingly. Here she was, facing against a seemingly mentally-unstable enemy with dangerous toys, but the young fox still managed to pull herself together and formed a self-made Kung Fu defense stance. Wolf Boss's pupils dilated and shone dangerously. He licked his lips, already preparing for the taste of female fox blood on his muzzle, while Mei Ling stared passively ahead, awaiting his attack._

 _Needless to say, things were about to get ugly. Wolf Boss gave a devilish smirk once more and said,_

 _"Alright then... Ready for round two?"_

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 **Author's Note: Already working on the next chapter. But don't expect a miracle, like for me to be done the next day you read this. Nope. No way I'm that good of a writer. Unless you want to flatter me (lol *wink*). If you haven't guessed, this will be a long flashback. Not much else to say. I'll see all you guys again whenever the time comes up :p**


	3. Chapter 3

**Don't got much to say on this portion of text either. Anyways, here's chapter 3! * _still a flashback*_**

* * *

 _"Alright then... Ready for round two?"_

 _Mei Ling stared levelly at the crazed wolf that was twirling his blades mockingly at her. Was the usually quick-witted and sharp-tongued thief nervous? Why yes... Did she show it? Meh. It was an easily debatable topic. Nevertheless, Wolf Boss did not want make the same mistakes as his previous two attempts. He was going to wait for the opportune moment; the wolf wanted the agile fox to strike first, and then make her pay for it dearly in the most painful ways he could think of. Truth be told, it was the best strategy he had ever come up with in years._

 _The wolf was hired by Shen in the first place for his brawn, not his brains anyway. What he lacked for in general knowledge, he made up for in his overwhelming number of successful contracts that he took as a mercenary. Whether or not it be legal, or illegal. Trained to exploit tactical and physical weaknesses since he was a pup, Wolf Boss was a professional at inflicting pain towards others. It didn't matter if the contract was purely business related, or a personal affair. If he was tasked to kill, he did just that. The same went for all of his other objectives. The point is, he always finishes what he started._

 _Wolf Boss has never failed a single contract and had no plans of losing that streak to a brat-of-a-fox. He would carry out this mission like all others. With extreme precision and a heart of made of ice. He didn't care that his assassination target was a young, female vulpine. Speaking of which, the two opponents were slowly circling one another, each one trying to evaluate the other in search of something they could use to their advantage. Mei Ling's posture was stiff with concentration and focus, while the wolf was lazily mirroring her walking cycle, all the while squeezing in a couple of harsh taunts and several exaggerated yawns._

 _Mei Ling grew tired of pacing and stopped mid-walk. She turned to fully face her attacker, with the said figure doing the same, f only to please her before prematurely ending her life. Both fighters stood there, with nothing but the weak gust of air blowing the leaves from the fallen tree away to make any form of sound. The bleeding rays of the sunlight seemed to have stopped all together, and the entire city of Gongmen was silent. It was as if the entire region had all collectively held their breaths, waiting for whatever would happen next between the two._

 _The fox firmly rolled her paws into fists again and visibly set her jaw. She was going to fight seriously, or die trying. The wolf merely snickered at the vulpine's antics._

 _"How adorable," stated Wolf Boss, "yet pointless. I'll admit, you are one heck of a fighter. Perhaps we would have ended up on the same side had you not been such a thorn in the side to my most recent contractor, Prince Shen. Maybe, I might even go as far as to feel remorse after killing you whenever I go to sleep at night. Maybe. Don't get too optimistic about that though."_

 _The vulpine, rolling her eyes sarcastically at the wolf's remarks, proceeded to do an upwards roundhouse kick to the bigger wolf's jaw in the hopes that he would close his muzzle for once._

 _It never made its intended destination._

 _Wolf Boss ducked under the arc during the duration of the kick and attempted to slash one of his daggers along her exposed shin area. Mei Ling, having noticed his plan of retaliation, quickly brought her other leg around and barely deflected the incapacitating cheap shot. When she landed on the ground (with slight unsteadiness from the amount of energy she forced herself to use in the recent strike), the fox back flipped away from her opponent._

 _"Dang, he's good," thought Mei Ling, "and here I thought anyone that wasn't adept at Kung Fu stood no chance against an experienced veteran. Everything about this battle will be interesting. Minus the rapidly rising rate of the potentiality of a slow and painful death of course."_

 _Wolf Boss was barely trying at this point. He knew he had her. It was only a matter of time until the vulpine would make an untimely maneuver and accidentally wind up with either Scorching Tooth or Blistering Claw being jabbed straight through her intestines and come out the other end. It was a typical tactic, but one that was highly efficient, if it was played the right way. Wolf Boss, being no stranger to strategy, recognized this opportunity and embraced it wholly._

 _Tire your enemy out, and then make them regret it. A lot. It was as simple as that. It was also working quite well, as the battle-hardened wolf noticed the younger fox's subtle, but visible pants for breath. The time to reverse the playing field was getting closer. Wolf Boss smiled sadistically at this realization._

 _Oh how much he was going to enjoy this._

 _Mei Ling was not doing so well. She was already tired, but for some reason, it felt... out of place. She could run for miles to get away from a pursuing guard, but now, she was exhausted after a brief exchange of well-timed attacks, with none hitting its mark. That is, all except one. The weary fox glanced at the dagger that was being held in the wolf's non-dominate hand. He didn't realize it, but the blade had a line of blood that slowly trickled down along its length and accumulated into a crimson drop at the very tip before falling into the grass below._

 _Perhaps her deflect did not go as well as she planned it to be. After all, it was in the heat of the moment, and Mei Ling had to think quickly before possibly getting a main artery torn from her leg area. Her execution of the move had been reckless and unplanned, and she paid the price afterwards unwillingly. The fox glanced down at her own leg to confirm her suspicions. Her heel that had been used to shield her other unprotected limb had a thin, but deep trail of blood and damaged tissue. Still, it could have been worse. Though not by much._

 _The fox studied the offending dagger. "Scorching Tooth" was it called? Yes. That was it. Her eyes narrowed when she saw something else mixed in with her blood that was still trailing down its sides. The blood had a lighter hue than the one that was on her heel. The mysterious substance would have probably gone unnoticed had it not been distilled into her blood. Wait..._

 _That was it! Her unknown fatigue, the wolf's smug grins as if he had already won, the stuff that was on the dagger. It all fell together in a synchronous manner to Mei Ling. She had figured out the wolf's ulterior motive. He was using some type of poison to try and make her fall unconscious. She would've congratulated the wolf for his stroke of geniousness had she not been on the receiving end of the blade. Scorching Tooth was laced with an outer coating that was intended to incapacitate people. The fox refused to let this happen to her. The second her eyes closed from the sleep agent, she would be dead._

 _It was another stand-off. Wolf Boss was waiting for Mei Ling to attack and further weaken herself. The mentioned fox glared at the wolf bandit, before letting out a faint chuckle and a quieter-than-usual remark. Good. The poison was beginning to take its hold on her body._

 _"I've got to say, lacing that dagger with whatever that was is a pretty clever idea. I might even do that myself if I ever happen to find that substance again..."_

 _The bandit's eyes widened slightly. She had figured it out. He was impressed, but of course, the wolf refused to show it. Coating a weapon with a poison was a somewhat newly discovered technique, and the wolf was one of the rare few that had actually been doing it before it was officially publicized and entered into the majority of common knowledge. No matter. Everything would be revealed to everyone some way or another. And this was no exception. However, he would still try to preserve the discretion of his trump card as long as he could if it were possible._

 _"Enjoy it lady, because you won't live long enough to be able to utter a word about this to anyone else soon enough."_

 _"Back with the formalities again? It's Mei Ling to you, you persistent would-be-gentleman."_

 _Wolf Boss snarled at her passive-aggressiveness. It was definitely frustrating, to say the least. Most targets the bandit/mercenary was hired to murder were usually begging for their lives or dead at this point. Yet there was a teenage 'anarchist' of a fox that was still feisty enough to retort back snide remarks. Tired of idle chit-chat, the wolf lunged at her once again._

 _Mei Ling was hurting badly. Her bad heel desperately needed to be bandaged up before it lost too much blood, but she would have to deal with that later. Right now though, the vulpine had to concentrate on the twin daggers that were currently heading for her throat. Mei Ling ducked underneath the larger wolf easily and prepared herself for a swift retaliation. The wolf did not disappoint._

 _The dagger were flashing at a blinding speed towards anything that was considered her limb. The fox dutifully evaded all of them as well. It was an honorable method to persevere, but it would all come to an end soon. Mei Ling's eyes were blurring, and whether or not it was from the lack of blood or the poison didn't matter anymore. All she knew was that the battle had to be concluded. And fast._

 _The weakening fox was rapidly losing more and more of her stamina. How she managed to continue drawing out the battle and dodging the fatal strikes, none could guess. Perhaps her stubborn personality had its uses after all. Still, it was a one-sided match. Wolf Boss knew this as well, and was toying with her at this point._ _He arrogantly launched himself forwards only to jerk back swiftly, making the fox dodge an invisible blade that was supposed to be heading for a main artery. Mei Ling was heaving for air, and this time couldn't maintain her indifferent composure._

 _Wolf Boss sneered victoriously. The end was coming faster than he had hoped. Little did he know, however, was that the vulpine had a similar mindset._

 _As the wolf mercenary proceeded to run at her for the final time, Mei Ling got into a wobbly defence stance, trying to accommodate for her injury. It was all or nothing at this point. And the fox hoped that she would either come out on top or at least perish while putting up a decent fight._

 _There it was. The "tide" of change, or was it something else? Wolf Boss twirled both his daggers as they gleamed dangerously against the quickly receding rays of the dying sunlight. No sound could be heard except for the whooshing of two blades and the heavy breaths of a certain vulpine. A leaf from the fallen tree had been swept up by the serene wind and landed gracefully in between the two_ _fighters, before one suddenly rushed forward._

 _Wolf Boss attempted a different strategy. This time, he threw one of his daggers like a throwing knife in between the fox's pupils._

 _Mei Ling deftly brought one paw and expertly deflected the fatal blade away from her, but that was what the bandit had wanted. That second of altered attentiveness was what was going to be the thief's downfall._

 _The mercenary, in the vulpine's moment of weakness, sprinted forwards even faster than what he had started off with. While the fox had been distracted by the normally-killing shot, Wolf Boss was within stabbing distance. He did not hesitate and struck with the mercilessness and precision that only a cold-blooded murderer would possess._

 _Mei Ling had averted her eyes away from the wolf only for a second to defend against the flying dagger, and then gasped as un unknown feeling passed through her body. Wolf Boss expertly rolled away from her, and once he was a suitable distance away, he had a ghost of a satisfied smile on his lips._

 _The fox's arms and legs all went limp. Tears had formed out of the corners of her eyes out of a sudden pain, and she noticed that he didn't have a single weapon in his paws. In fact, he had both of his arms crossed and was in a casual pose, as if the fight had been concluded. But it wasn't._

 _As least, she didn't think so. Mei Ling was too stubborn to give up, and she wasn't about to go down by some wannabe "assassin" hired by an equally entitled peacock. She would fight until the very moment she would die... But it didn't make any sense. Did the wolf sheathe his remaining dagger? Or had he finally had enough of her antics?_

 _And that's when she looked downwards._

 _There it was. A bloody blade that was almost too drenched in fox blood to be recognized as Blistering Claw, but it was still visible nevertheless. The dagger, in all of its supposed glory. And it was resting snugly in the fox's intestines, all the way up to the engraved hilt. Mei Ling was horrified by the sight, and feebly tried to pry it out of her body, to no avail. She was simply too weak to do any more. The combination of the poison, the blood loss, and the entirety of the fight had all taken its toll on her._

 _As she couldn't do anymore she stood there, trying to pour as much hatred as she could into the wolf that had not moved since her revelation. Mei Ling coughed as blood exited from her mouth, and left a thin trail on her chin. The fox felt nauseous and suddenly went down on all fours, her arms just barely keeping her from face-planting into the blood-splattered mess around her._

 _The fox then rolled on her side, as her arms became too tired to support herself any more. She coughed once more, with more blood coming out than the last time. She fought to stay conscious, but the sweet embrace of sleep was so alluring. So tempting... It was almost too easy to give up and just lay there on the_ _ground..._

 _Wolf Boss uncrossed his arms and strolled to the injured fox in front of him. She was about to close her eyes, so he kicked her roughly near the spot where his dagger was. The vulpine groaned in pain as the jagged blade tore into more of her delicate skin. Speaking of which, the wolf had to retrieve his daggers. He first went over to the one the fox had easily deflected to find it embedded firmly into the ground, a couple feet from where she was. He pulled it out with some difficulty, and went to the unmoving fox._

 _Mei Ling couldn't even close her eyes, as the new pain in her stomach was sending electric jolts throughout her nerves, forcing her to stay awake and endure the relentless torture. She heard the mercenary grunt as he pulled one of his daggers out of the ground, and his footsteps gradually grew louder as he returned to her field of vision._

 _Wolf Boss now had a grim look on his face. He enjoyed killing, but to do so to someone so young felt wrong. The slow feelings of regret started to take hold of his consciousness, but he shoved it to the side. This was actually the first time he had ever had to physically harm someone that wasn't an adult. Still, a job was a job, and he held his end of the deal. Prince Shen would be pleased. Now, to retrieve the other dagger and get the heck out of the area before the guards come. No doubt the recent commotion would send them running towards the both of them. Or one of them, at least._

 _The wolf bandit leaned down on one knee, and looked at the fox's pained expression. He was inwardly impressed by how she refused to scream or even cry. She was definitely a fighter. He opened his muzzle that was scarred from years of working "in the field" to speak._

 _"You're good... Mei Ling, was it? *sigh* For what it's worth, I'm sorry... But you did bring this upon yourself. I was only here today because of the consequences of your actions. Perhaps if the situation were different, I might even have welcomed you into my pack, but I can't guarantee that though. Anyways, I'll just grab my things and get going. I know you won't rat me out, as I'm pretty sure you don't like the guards as much as I do. Not that you'll live long enough to even form comprehensible words..."_

 _At that, Wolf Boss reached out with one paw and grabbed the hilt of the dagger. Mei Ling clenched her jaw tightly, promising herself that she wouldn't scream. The fox even bit the inside of her cheek in order to keep herself quiet. She would not seem weak in front of the enemy. The wolf had a dead, concentrated look in his eye as he swiftly yanked the intruder out of her gut. The fox bit her inner cheek so hard that it too bled, joining the multitude of exiting blood, but luckily all that came out of her lips was a single strangled gasp of agony._

 _The wolf sheathed both of his daggers and put them back in their respective positions. He then went to his war maul that was idly resting on the ground several feet from the conflict and slung it over his shoulder._

 _The fox had said nothing during this, and only continued to stared at him. The wolf admired her firm resolution. Perhaps he would have actually embraced her as his family after all... This entire calamity was an overall shame really..._

 _Sunset had been long since gone now, and the wolf walked away towards the distant moon. He'd have to report back to Prince Shen to inform him of his success in his mission. As he walked away, he only heard slight pained whimpers emitting from the female fox. His ears flattened to try to drown out the sound, but it was pointless. The feelings of guilt were too great to be suppressed at this point. His sadistic side claimed that the fox had deserved it, but he still didn't feel any comfort in that meritless reassurance._

 _As he kept walking and disappearing into the night, his feelings of remorse had only increased. But he soon found out that something else would make him feel even worse than he had already did, if that was even possible. In fact, nothing could have surpassed the coming moment that was to be permanently etched into his mind, like a scar that will never fade away._

 _It wasn't the pitiful whines that started to slowly_ _deteriorate into desperate pants for air, nor even the horrendous amounts of blood surrounding the young fox as she struggled to stay conscious. What had affected him so deeply, was instead something so simple and short, but it held a world full of meanings and accusations. The wolf could only walk away helplessly with a heavy heart and maintain his professional composure while this happened:_

 _When the signs of struggle coming from the feisty vulpine had stopped altogether, leaving nothing but a dead silence in the cool, emotionless night._

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well? What happens next? Hehe, I'll tell you all in the next chapter. For now though, sit tight and stay classy :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4! I'm sure that most of you guessed that Mei Ling survived, due to the layout of the story, but I couldn't resist the temptation. As you can see, this is going to be quite the long, elaborate flashback. It'll all be worth it in the coming chapters, don't you worry. Anyways, here ya go!**

* * *

*Present time*

Mei Ling sighed in remembrance. She was still traveling down the long winding path to the village. Her feet were dully throbbing, but she was well accustomed to the pain. With any luck, she would end up there by morning. The rogue patted the part of her robe that was concealing the scar caused from Wolf Boss's dagger. The fur over the wound never grew back and a thin line could still be visible from the poorly constructed stitches around it. The vixen recollected her thoughts. Man, being lonely sure did give you a lot of free time... Where was she again? Right.

That night the teenage fox should have died, had Wolf Boss's "poison" not entered into her circulatory system. The sleep agent had actually slowed her heart, causing her to not bleed out and die after she was maimed. Fortunately, she was also aided with the ministrations of a black panther who found her several minutes after the battle. To think, the wolf that supposedly "killed" her was also the one that actually played a major part of her survival. Ohh, the irony...

 _*Flashback, a few months after the battle with Wolf Boss; outskirts of Gongmen City*_

 _It was midmorning in China. People were going about their usual business, importing and exporting goods and whatnot. Ships full of cargo were exiting Gongmen City's myriad ports and the local guards were once again on the lookout for a particular thieving fox. Apparently, her mysterious inactivity regarding any from of breaking the law and her sudden lack of even being seen at all by anyone caused paranoia to travel throughout the city. This was the one time where everything was as normal as could things could possibly be, and the civilians were on high alert for her, instead of enjoying their day. Huh. Go Figure._

 _Most of everyone started to lean towards the belief that Mei Ling, the troublesome teenage fox, had officially gone straight. Oh, perish the thought! That wasn't the case at all. In fact, the vixen wished nothing more than to have the feeling of multiple yuan rolling in between her fingers after lifting them from a careless merchant, but she was currently too injured to be able to go about her usual life. The fox was a few miles outside the city walls, casually leaning against a door frame that separated her from the rest of the city and her present recuperation._

 _Mei Ling stared wordlessly into the dense bamboo forest that obscured her view from Gongmen City. The door frame creaked against her weight due to its age and dilapidated structure, but it still managed to support her weight. The fox was in a small hut that was isolated from society, but she was still very much alive and well. The vulpine had a grim look on her face as she delved into the deepest parts of her mind. Perhaps she did this so that she couldn't go insane from the extensive duration of her self-imposed exile from the city._

 _The hut wasn't anything impressive, but that wasn't its purpose in the first place. It served as Mei Ling's first experience of a safe house. When the heat around her reputation had gotten so bad, she had to retreat to a place that was obscured from the guards and wait until her phase of notoriety had cooled down. This was her current hideout from the local authorities. Her little slice of "peace-and-quiet". Still, this was her first time she ever had to fully go incognito from everyone and everything._

 _To put it simply, the vixen was not enjoying this one bit. Her teenage impatience was getting the better of her._

 _Mei Ling closed her eyes and opened them, wishing that she could be somewhere else. Actually, anywhere else that wasn't a prison was perfectly fine for her right now. The fox glared at the outside world, hoping anything would give her an excuse to bolt from this wretched, boring place and never return. Of course, nothing happened. However, the vulpine did accomplish looking very much like an enraged Wolf Boss for a full two minutes without any disturbance._

 _Mei Ling sighed heavily when she felt a familiar black glove place itself reassuringly on her shoulder. It belonged to the male black panther that had saved her. The panther (somewhere in his thirties, she assumed), wore an extremely dark blue vest with white trimming that was snugly fitted on himself with a matching pair of traveling pants held up with a more prominent blue sash. He was quite muscular, but Mei Ling didn't believe in his strength until the first night when she had tried to escape his hut, only to be roughly tied up and brought back to the home (with quite a bit of kicking and screaming, if I might add). That's why she didn't dare to leave the hut, unless she wishes to be manhandled again._

 _It was for her own good at the time as she was still heavily wounded from the dagger, but her stubbornness forced herself to try to flee from the stranger that was truly trying to nurse her back to health. It was difficult, but the fox eventually grew to trust the panther._

 _The glove lifted itself from her shoulder and a voice with a light, sympathetic tone stated,_

 _"Breakfast is ready..."_

 _The fox stayed at the edge of the door for a little longer. The urge to escape crossed her mind once again, but the vixen thought better of it. She would only have the same results as before. Only with the possible exception that there would be a gag placed in her mouth this time as the previous attempt had caused quite a ruckus, nearly waking the entire city with the fox's indignant yells as she was being carried back. At least she was in good company, and her feline "companion" seemed to have no intention of selling her out to the guards once she was fully recovered. For now. The panther was reliable, but was still quite the shady character, in her opinion._

 _Mei Ling pried herself from the doorframe and reluctantly went further inside the hut. The interior was simple, but it had everything that a normal household in Gongmen would have. She looked at the cooking pot in the center of the hut, and the enticing scent of potatoes that were boiling over the fire wafted into her nostrils. Her mouth watered slightly._

 _The panther placed two small chairs near the "campfire" and beckoned the vulpine over. She accepted his offer happily. At least she wasn't completely separated from society. She still had the panther... acquaintance. "Friend" felt like it was a too-strong word for their current circumstances. Mei Ling went over to the feline and waited for him to dish out the servings. When she got hers, she gave a minuscule smile and said warmly,_

 _"Thanks..._ _Huanying."_

 _"Not a problem."_

 _They ate in comfortable silence. The crackling of the fire and the clanking of metal spoons on the wooden bowls was the only audible noise. Both remained like that until the teenage vulpine asked,_

 _"So... What's on the agenda for this morning?"_

 _"We're going to continue practicing the art of stealth and evasion. That is if it won't put too much strain on your wound."_

 _"Don't soil your pants buddy... I've got this."_

 _"Alright then. We'll start whenever you are ready."_

 _This was how Mei Ling spent most of her days remaining invisible from Gongmen. She had entered a peculiar form of a "mentorship program", with Huanying being her tutor and doctor due to her injuries from the fight. At first, she refused to cooperate. She thought that since she had made it this far as a thief, her skills were decent enough, but one quick game to see who could steal the most from each other proved her very wrong. The panther had a smug smirk as he won the competition by a longshot, leaving an open-mouthed and Mei Ling, and a wrinkled sense of self-esteem.._

 _The rebellious vixen also tried to best him in a match of Kung Fu, thinking she was very well an adept at it, but was quickly fighting back tears as the feline had pinned her arms back behind her painfully within the first seven seconds of the sparring session. Heck, this Huanying guy could have put Wolf Boss's skills to shame had he only arrived a little sooner than he did. That was when Mei Ling finally agreed to learn from him. If the panther knew some good things, then the vulpine would have been a fool to pass up an opportunity to perfect her...skills._

 _So far the fox was learning various arts related to thievery and burglary, such as pickpocketing, lockpicking, climbing, free-running, and of course Kung Fu._

 _Huanying had also taught her a couple basic techniques involving seduction (even though it was extremely awkward for the both of them, and the pair swore to never speak of that lesson afterward), and bribing/bartering, if the situation ever came to that. Over the few months of condensed learning and training, the vulpine was noticeably better at doing her signature "endeavors". She was grateful the panther taught her all this, but a new question soon arose from her mind. It was one that needed to be_ _answered, but the fox was fearful of what she might hear in response._

 _"...How do you know all of this?"_

 _The vixen had never seen the panther in the city before, and judging from his skills, she thought that she would have at least heard of the name "Huanying" before. Surprisingly enough, she never did. Perhaps he was from somewhere else? Another country maybe? Who taught him? A master? Or was he a self-learner? So many details were hidden from the vulpine about the panther that she wanted to know, and it seemed that the feline-in-question was perfectly content to leave things at that, much to her annoyance. Still, Mei Ling was a stubborn fox and took pride in her persistence._

 _She'd find out one way or another. For now though, it was off to stealth training for her._

 _The vixen set her finished bowl down and followed the black feline out of the door and into the bamboo trees. They walked on for a while with a brisk pace, until they were in the presumably densest part of the forest. Huanying glanced around, nodding to himself in satisfaction before speaking._

 _"Ah. Here we are. Now as I said before. Stealing is great and all, but discretion plays a major part in larceny, no matter the form it takes. If one is not careful, then he or she is probably like you right now," the panther flicked Mei Ling lightly on the nose with one of his digits, causing her to pout adorably (though she didn't realize) and cross her arms before resuming._

 _"...constantly on the run from guards that are well aware of your presence within the city. You're lucky that I'm going to teach you the skills you need so that you can keep the occasional mandatory need of having to go to safe houses like mine at a minimum. If you were more subtle in your lifts, perhaps you would not be seen as 'The Bruise of Gongmen City', like you are right now._

 _At this Mei Ling's eyes widened in shock and the panther, who was gauging her reaction, chuckled lightly._

 _"You know, I may be disconnected from the outside world, but that goes to show just how much of a name you have made for yourself if even I have heard of it. By the way, I learned that some people, most of them bandits, also refer to you as 'The Scary, Sadistic Lady of the Dynasty'. Is there an actual backstory behind your- erm... 'unique' title?"._

 _"Hmmph, whatever... And I'd rather not tell you... creep."_

 _"Huh wha-?!"_

 _Huanying had fallen face first into the ground when he heard that. He then brought his gloved paw down his face to wipe off the dirt in exasperation. It had been a while since someone directly insulted him like that. He had to admit, this lady has got some spunk. When he got back up, his tail was fluffed out in denial and indignance. His angry emerald green eyes met Mei Ling's while he lifted his paw to point at her accusingly like a schoolgirl. Honestly, it was quite the comical sight. The vixen put a paw over her muzzle, trying hard not to laugh while the offended feline scolded her for such disrespect towards him._

 _"And I-... Hey! Are you even listening? Mei Ling!"_

 _"Sorry. I couldn't resist. If it makes you feel better, I don't think you're too much of a creep. Though I do feel as if you were ogling me whenever you would redress the bandages around my stomach wound. Anyways, shall we continue where we left off?"_

 _At this, Huanying sighed resignedly. "_ _Teenagers. So full of themselves..." he mumbled to himself._

 _"Alright. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Today, we'll be doing something a little different. To practice stealth, we're going to play Hide-And-Seek. Obviously, I'm going to be the seeker, and if I find you, I'm going to live up to my supposedly "creepy" status and do things to you that you would have never thought were even possible... Now are you ready?"_

 _"WAIT A SECOND! WHAT?!"_

 _Mei Ling had gotten into a newly-polished defense stance. Her eyes were as wide as the moon itself and her legs and arms were trembling from the delayed interpretation of what the black panther had said. Huanying stared at her for a full five seconds before his straight-face broke and he burst out laughing. The vixen was not amused whatsoever. The feline wiped the tears from his eyes before he officially recomposed himself._

 _"Sorry. I couldn't resist." teased the black panther with a haughty expression on his face. He actually seemed quite proud that he just reversed the fox's own statement back against her._

 _"Oh. So that's how it's going to be..." thought the vulpine with a blank expression on her face._ _"Can we just begin now?"_

 _"Okay. Since it's around noon, you won't have much shadow to conceal yourself, so it would be best to be creative in your spots when hiding from me. The range you can hide is limited to a diameter of half a mile from where we are now. I'll close my eyes and wait five full minutes before starting the search. Plenty of time to do whatever you need to do. Any questions?"_

 _"Nope."_

 _"Alright. Then begin. 1...2...3...4...5..."_

 _With that, Mei Ling ran off, but not before sticking out her tongue at the feline, whom she was positive he was peeking out of one of his eyelids much to his dismay and guilt. He quickly closed them, trying to take her assigned task seriously. Time passed as if it were in slow motion as the panther kept counting. Why did keeping track of time always seem so long? Huanying managed to wait five full minutes nevertheless. The sun was blazing brightly with no mercy as the panther sniffed at the area with his heightened sense of smell, trying to piece together where the elusive fox had disappeared._

 _Eventually, Huanying was able to get a solid trail southeast of where he was currently. He went that way whilst taking in every detail, from the cracks in the semi-dry soil beneath him to the amount of loose rocks and pebbles scattered throughout the bamboo forest. He always kept his eyes roaming and nostrils flared in case he would pick up another clue as to the vixen's whereabouts. He eventually came across a distinctly familiar tuft of fur that was caught in the crevice of a large boulder._

 _The black panther carefully reached for it and gave it a through sniff. He smiled inwardly while maintaining his passive composure. He had her now. And she was relatively close, judging from the strength of her most recent scent. Huanying paused right where he was, and scanned his surroundings with a critical eye. Nothing but bamboo trees could be seen as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze ruffled his fur, but all was relatively quiet, much to the feline's disappointment._

 _"Darn," thought Huanying, "Mei Ling is actually trying this time. Either that or I should start paying attention to my own lessons that I teach her."_

 _Just then, he heard a rustling sound come from behind him. He swiftly turned around, but only the rippling of the disturbed bamboo shoots acknowledged his presence_ _._

 _"Okaaay... That is not suspicious at all..." said the panther out loud in the hopes that the vulpine would carelessly provide a snide response to his remark. Nothing happened. A breeze traveled through his proximity again, and that's when Huanying felt something tackle him from behind. He stood there unmoving as he absorbed the impact of his would-be assailant like he was a brick wall. With his build, the feline pretty much was one, so the supposed attack wasn't too distracting._

 _The panther's assaulter could be heard falling back with a loud, "Oomph!"._

 _Huanying did a one-eighty degree turn once more, the satisfaction on his face plainly visible as he crossed his arms and stared at the fox laying on her back that was currently blinking the stars out of her eyes. Once she_ _recovered, she sat up and returned the feline's amused gaze with a glare of her own._

 _"Did you really think that doing that would actually work? Come on, I thought you knew better than that at this point. Though it's nice to know that the naivete of youth never ceases to amaze me."_

 _"Hey! It would have worked if you weren't such a lanky, ungracefully buff, boulder-of-a-panther!"_

 _"You only say that 'cause you're jealous of my attractiveness."_

 _"Am NOT!"_

 _"Denial. It's a common reaction when someone is too embarrassed to admit something."_

 _"NEVER!"_

 _"Then why are you still responding back to my statements? Hmm?"_

 _"Becaus-"_

 _Mei Ling instantly shut her mouth. Great. She played herself. Huanying, having noticed her predicament, forced down his chuckles and proceeded to evaluate her on the results of their little game._

 _"Since this was supposed to be Hide-And-Seek and not Hide-And-Tackle, I'd say you don't really need any advice from me with your current aptitude at this. You can obviously stay undetected, so I assume that your repertoire as an infamous thief is probably a self-imposed title. I don't understand why you don't use your uncanny abilities as often as I had hoped you would."_

 _"Sorry. I just usually prefer to have the satisfaction of knowing that my victims knew they were robbed by ME, and not just some token fox."_

 _"Very well then. At least you can manage yourself in the categories of stealth. Come on. Let's head back to the safe house."_

 _"Sure thing Huanying! Sooooo. Since I've got the whole 'being-sneaky-is-key' thing down, what else are we gonna do..."_

*Present time*

The rogue walked on and on, the various landforms gradually becoming more familiar to her as she neared the village while still using the river as her guide. It was well around 2 a.m, and that meant the fox still had plenty of miles left to travel before finally reaching there. Her stomach grumbled violently, reminding her of the motivation behind this seemingly innocent visit to the agricultural settlement.

A well-stocked Imperial convoy had passed the vixen earlier, but she was skittish to rob it. For one, the goats hauling the carriages all wore the official "Emperor's Seal" across their uniforms, meaning that whoever tangled with them would have the whole of China out for his/her neck. Now she had regretted not taking the risk. It would have been a simple job: Seduce one of the rhino bodyguards into giving her access to the carriages, and grab as much as she could before the dazed guardian fully realized what he had just done. She'd have to thank Huanying for introducing her to the art of "persuasion" if she ever saw him again.

Oh, how much she missed that panther. He was the only...friend... that ever stuck beside her, as he was far too old to be able to be dragged away from her paws by paranoid parents. She wondered what the black feline was doing now. Was he in jail? About to be? Is he already dead? Or just simply living in yet another safe house, totally enclosed within his barriers from the world of society. He was definitely quite the confusing figure, but the rogue knew his morals were pure and just. Far better than the corrupt minds of the superintendents and rulers of most regions within all of China.

The desire for food was making her nostalgic.

At least, that was the thought that crossed her mind as the vulpine questioned why all these buried memories were now resurfacing in her head. Perhaps she had better pick up the pace before she starts to become delirious from lack of food. Gods. Her stomach had a consciousness of its own when it wasn't receiving enough attention.

Mei Ling walked on at a slightly quicker pace, trying to ignore her body's needs, to little avail. It was just as bad, whether the vixen chose to acknowledge it or not. Oh well. At least she was getting closer to her destination, one way or another...

* * *

 **Author's Note: Gonna keep the chapters coming. I have a general idea where this story is going to head, so don't stress out about a possible Mei LingXHuanying. It's not gonna happen (Besides, she's 15 and he's around his 30s). He is just an extremely important filler-character for what is to come, and I felt that a more interactive introduction into his part in the story would be better than just summing up his personality. I had actually planned a list of his traits and thought about typing them down, but as you can see, I had better ideas :D If you want to see my rough-draft of his character traits, here they are:**

 **(Huanying.)**

 **(Species: Black Panther)**

 **(Eyes: Emerald Green in color, (Even more green than Po Ping's, hehe.) with slight scar over one eyelid. How it got there? Unknown...)**

 **(Clothing: Dark blue (almost black, but not quite) vest with white (or beige, due to how dirty that color can get so fast) trimming. Matching pair of traveling pants held up with a more prominent colored blue sash. Normal leg wraps. Wrist wraps accompanied with a pair of gloves. Not enough to attract attention, but enough to say that you mean business.)**

 **(Fighting Style: Similar to Mei Ling's but far more deadly due to years of self-improvement: Style is rogue-like, unfair, and completely improvised "Kung Fu".)**

 **(Personality: Is like two sides of a coin. Has a childish, playful, mischievous side while on the other hand, also can be serious, cunning, and dedicated. Definitely makes for someone that could well be "the cool teacher" in class.)**

 **So that's what I had on him. I'm overstaying my A.N by a longshot, so see ya next chapter!**


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